I've been chasing the periodic appearance of M&S and "limp mode" for more than a month. I just switched out the negative battery terminal and it seemed to go away -- for a while. Note that it comes on at seemingly random times and throws no codes when it does, making it tough to figure out what's going on.

Anyway today when I was parallel parking, switching back and forth from drive to reverse a bunch, it came on again. The gear switches also started to sound clunky after a bit, like the gear shift wasn't as smooth as it should have been. Are there any clues here?

Any other tips about how to diagnose/fix this from here would be much appreciated. My next step is to replace the positive battery terminal.

 

Have you ever changed the tranny filter and fluid. It could be just that it is low on fluid. I know its a pain in the neck to even check the fluid, since LR in their infinite wisdom, removed the tranny dipstick. After I changed my filter and fluid, i have thought seriously about getting a D1 pan with the dipstick. I know some members have done this.

 

These lights usually store faults; I'm surprised yours is not. The two most common reasons for this on a D2 is low battery voltage and transmission gear switch. Make sure the shift cable is adjusted correctly and then check the electrical connector right next to the cable for corrosion. This was more common on earlier D2, 2002 and older.

 

My rover did the same thing a while back....then the tranny blew up, so my advice is check your fluid.

 

Low battery or fluid, as stated. Could be switch but I'd check those two first.

 

I was also a victim of the M & S lights flashing. Mine would typically only flash when shifting from Reverse to Drive. I changed the battery, no good. It would sometimes go days without a problem and then all of a sudden just start flashing. I finally decided to go with the neutral safety switch replacement (old one was all corroded) and it seems to be good as new. Hope this helps!

 

Welp, I took it into a shop that specializes in Land Rovers, and they came back saying it's the XYZ switch, aka the inhibitor switch. Although the job is super-easy, according to the RAVE, I'm having them do it because the labor is almost nothing and the part is extremely expensive.

I'm also having them change out the fluid and filter. Fingers crossed that this fixes it, and thanks everyone for the suggestions.